Project Implementation and Support

The main factor leading to a successful implementation of a business solution is the people. Far too often, strategies are aimed at either the latest technology, or the fastest turnaround, or the most detailed customer information. Considerable amount of time is spent over bandwidth and speed with hardly any thought being given to how the change will affect the people, both inside and outside the business.

The questions that need to be addressed are:

• Why does the business need the change?
• What will it do for your customers and your people?
• How will the business processes change as a result of the new system?
• How do the people within the organization view the proposed change?
• How will you overcome your people’s natural resistance to change?
• How do you plan to ‘sell’ the positive aspects so that your people will ‘buy’ the project?

For a successful implementation of a business solution, we give careful consideration to the key phases of an IT project:

• Solution investigation – we help management consider the solution investigation phase and decide whether to implement a package solution. This will involve requests for proposals and a thorough evaluation process with the software finalists.

• Designing the solution – the design of a business solution will require consideration of the business processes, user interaction, data requirements and an understating of the infrastructure, including databases. A thorough quality assurance and testing regime will need to be set up, including functionality, stress and load at all levels.

• Building the solution – when building the solution, thought must be given at the design and testing phase using suitable test environments. Continuity of service should also be factored into the build depending on the critical nature of the solution.

• Deployment – this will depend on the business needs and necessities. Risk-averse organizations often adopt a modular implementation running in parallel with an ongoing system. Where a business solution represents new functionality, management may prefer a ‘big bang’ deployment with limited functionality before adding further modules. Environment suitability and workforce constraints including support, operation policies and procedures need to be given due consideration.

Our IT specialists have helped a number of entities, including Government, to successfully implement IT projects; subsequently we also support such projects on an ongoing basis. As your consultants, we will ease the burden of such complex issues off your shoulders and let you concentrate on your core business responsibilities.